romantic relationships and urban modernity in the writings of han bangqing and zhang ailing

113 Pages·2013·0.71 MB·English

by  Andrew Kauffman

ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS AND URBAN MODERNITY IN THE
WRITINGS OF HAN BANGQING AND ZHANG AILING
By
Andrew M. Kauffman

Submitted to the graduate degree program in East Asian Languages and Cultures and the
Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the degree of Master of Arts.

________________________________
Chairperson Hui (Faye) Xiao

________________________________
Keith McMahon
________________________________
Elaine Gerbert

Date Defended: 05/10/2013
The Thesis Committee for Andrew M. Kauffman certifies that this is the approved
version of the following thesis:

ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS AND URBAN MODERNITY IN THE
WRITINGS OF HAN BANGQING AND ZHANG AILING

________________________________
Chairperson Hui (Faye) Xiao

Date approved: 05/21/2013

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ABSTRACT
Despite the vast amount of research done by Chinese and Western scholars on the
writings of Han Bangqing (1854-1894) and, particularly, Zhang Ailing (1920-1995),
there has been relatively little scholarship focusing on the connections between these two
authors and their views on romance and urban modernity. This thesis seeks to address
this problem by first exploring the connections between these two prominent Shanghai
authors on three levels - personal, historical/cultural, and literary - and then examining
how they portray romance and urban modernity in some of their pieces. In addition to
Zhang Ailing’s extensive translation work on Han Bangqing’s Sing-song Girls of
Shanghai, translating it first into Mandarin Chinese from the Wu dialect and then into
English, a central connection between these two authors is the preeminent position of
Shanghai in their writings. This thesis examines the culture and history of Shanghai and
how it affected both writers. The thesis also focuses on the major themes and literary
styles found in their works, which, as they exhibit a unique mixture of modern and
traditional elements, is emblematic of the transitional periods in which they lived.
To illustrate Han Bangqing and Zhang Ailing’s similar views on romance, this
study examines Han Bangqing’s late Qing courtesan novel, Sing-song Girls of Shanghai
(1892), and three of Zhang Ailing’s representative pieces – “Sealed Off” (1943), “Red
Rose, White Rose” (1944), and “Love in a Fallen City” (1943). By exploring these works,
the thesis argues that Zhang Ailing’s interpretation of the modern urban romantic
experience was heavily influenced by Han Bangqing’s novel. Similar to Han Bangqing’s
writing, Zhang Ailing’s stories are generally devoid of lofty romantic sentiment. Instead,
the modern pursuit of romance for both writers is prosaic and, at times, selfishly

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calculating. Finally, the thesis also focuses on the emergence of the modern urbanite,
illustrated by the blatant imitation of Western ideas and customs by the courtesans and
clients in the Sing-song Girls of Shanghai and concludes with an analysis of Zhang
Ailing’s desolate outlook on the state of the modern urbanite in her lifetime.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract iii

Illustrations vi

Introduction: Connections Between Han Bangqing and Zhang Ailing 1

Chapter One: Romantic Relationships and the Emergence of the Modern Urbanite
in the Sing-song Girls of Shanghai 16

1. Nineteenth Century Shanghai 18

2. Courtesan Culture of Late Qing Shanghai 25

3. The Romance of Shanghai Courtesans and Clients 38

4. The Emergence of the Modern Urban Man and Woman 49

Chapter Two: The Romance of the Modern Urbanite in Zhang Ailing’s Writing 60

1. Late Republican-Period Shanghai 62

2. “Sealed Off” 67

3. “Red Rose, White Rose” 73

4. “Love in a Fallen City” 82

Conclusion 98

Bibliography 105

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ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure 1: The Cover Design of Zhang Ailing’s Story Collection, Romances (Chuanqi) 65

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INTRODUCTION:
Connections Between Han Bangqing and Zhang Ailing

Han Bangqing (1856-1894) and Zhang Ailing (1920-1995) were two prominent
Shanghai authors who lived during different periods of unprecedented social and political
change. Although their works are separated by nearly five decades, the connections
between these two authors, particularly on a personal, historical/cultural, and literary
level, are truly remarkable. While there has been extensive research in recent years on
Han Bangqing and Zhang Ailing’s writings, even to the extent that there was a field of
study solely devoted to analyzing Zhang Ailing’s works (Zhang studies) during the
eighties and nineties, there has been little scholarship comparing these two authors’ views
on romance and urban modernity, as well as Zhang Ailing’s involvement with Han
Bangqing’s Sing-song Girls of Shanghai.1 Thus, through an analysis of these authors’
works, this paper seeks to answer three main questions. First, how do Han Bangqing and
Zhang Ailing portray romantic relationships in their works? Second, with regard to Han
Bangqing’s Sing-song Girls of Shanghai, what roles do the Shanghai courtesan and her
client play in the creation of the modern urbanite? Finally, what does Zhang Ailing’s
interpretation of romance in three of her representative pieces suggest about how she
views the modern urbanite in the late Republican-era?
It is the contention of this paper that a study of how these two authors portray
romantic relationships can shed light on China’s transition from a traditional Confucian
society, where contact between the sexes was highly regulated, to a modern society that

1 David Wang, “Foreword,” In Sing-song Girls of Shanghai, by Han Bangqing (New York: Columbia
University Press, 2005), p. xviii.

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openly embraced the idea of free partner choice and an expanded public role for women.
Han Bangqing’s depiction of the courtesan/client relationship in the Sing-song Girls of
Shanghai is a useful starting point for gaining a better understanding of the incipient
stage of this radical social transformation and the emergence of the modern urban man
and woman. An analysis of Zhang Ailing’s wartime pieces – that is, those written
between 1943 and 1945 – is also useful, as it can help illuminate China’s rapid
modernization process during the Republican-era and the obstacles the country’s urban
population confronted in trying to come to terms with a world that was torn between the
competing forces of traditionalism and modernism.
My research method for addressing the questions raised by this paper is primarily
based on a textual analysis of primary sources. With regards to Han Bangqing’s Sing-
song Girls of Shanghai, I have used Zhang Ailing and Eva Hung’s English translation of
the novel. However, since the original prologue was not translated into English, I have
consulted Zhang Ailing’s Mandarin translation to make up for this omission. As for my
analysis of Zhang Ailing’s wartime works, I have used three of her more well-known
pieces that were written during this period in her literary career: “Sealed Off,” “Red Rose,
White Rose,” and “Love in a Fallen City.” My selection of “Sealed Off” and “Red Rose,
White Rose” for further enquiry is due to their similar themes and probing insights they
offer on the modern urban romantic experience for both males and females in 1940s
Shanghai. As for “Love in a Fallen City,” it seems that no study on Zhang Ailing’s
writing is complete without an analysis of this widely acclaimed piece. Moreover, as it
offers a slight variance to Zhang Ailing’s typical depiction of romance, it provides useful
insights for gaining a better understanding of Zhang Ailing’s romantic views. My

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understanding of these short stories is largely based on my reading of them in their
original language, although I have consulted English translations when necessary. In
addition to using primary sources, I have tried to incorporate the findings of secondary
sources into the paper whenever it permitted.
Before proceeding to analyze Han Bangqing’s Sing-song Girls of Shanghai and
three of Zhang Ailing’s representative pieces, this paper first seeks to establish a
connection between these two authors on three different levels: personal,
historical/cultural, and literary. On a personal level, Zhang Ailing’s fondness for Han
Bangqing’s novel cannot be overstated. In her afterword to her Mandarin translation of
the novel, she writes that she first read the Sing-song Girls of Shanghai when she was
thirteen years old. In addition to Dream of the Red Chamber and Golden Lotus, the Sing-
song Girls of Shanghai was one of the few works of traditional Chinese fiction that she
would return to every couple of years to read again.2 This late Qing courtesan novel also
consumed much of her time during the latter half of her life, as she devoted a significant
amount of her time and energy while living in the U.S. (1955-1995) to translating the
novel from the Wu dialect into Mandarin Chinese, which was first published in 1983. In
addition, Zhang Ailing also worked on an English translation of the novel up until her
death, which, apart from the first two chapters, was never published.3 Her desire for the
Sing-song Girls of Shanghai to be read and appreciated by a larger domestic and global
audience is testimony to the high regard in which she held the novel. Moreover, as she
spent the last few decades of her life living as a recluse in a foreign country, perhaps her

2
 Zhang
 Ailing,
 trans,
 Haishanghua
 luo
 (Beijing:
 Beijing
 chubanshe,
 2009),
 p.
 324.

3 Wang, David, “Foreword,” p. xviii.

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engrossment with this work of traditional Chinese fiction also provided her with cultural
solace and a much-desired connection with her distant homeland.
On a historical/cultural level, the similarities between Han Bangqing and Zhang
Ailing are quite astounding. As the works discussed in this paper were written while both
authors were living in the cosmopolitan city of Shanghai, the influences of this modern
city on their writings and personal life are profound and deserve further exploration. The
importance of Shanghai on these writers is conspicuously demonstrated in the fact that
the city serves as the setting for many of their pieces, with the exception of the latter half
of Zhang Ailing’s “Love in a Fallen City.” In Han Bangqing and Zhang Ailing’s literary
world, Shanghai was a city comprised of people from all walks of life. In the Sing-song
Girls of Shanghai, this is exhibited in the diverse backgrounds of the novel’s many male
characters, coming from places such as Shandong, Hangzhou, and Guangdong. In Zhang
Ailing’s “Red Rose, White Rose” and “Love in a Fallen City,” the presence of overseas
Chinese, typified by Wang Jiaorui and Fan Liuyuan, and foreigners further attest to
Shanghai’s diverse population. Thus, whether it was during Han Bangqing’s lifetime or
Zhang Ailing’s, Shanghai was renowned for its heterogeneous society comprised largely
of immigrants.
Shanghai was an appealing destination for many because it offered endless
entertainment possibilities and temporary diversion from China’s pressing problems. The
dance halls, movie theaters, Western-style restaurants, large public parks, and world-
famous pleasure quarters that serve as backgrounds in Han Bangqing and Zhang Ailing’s
works attracted people to the city from all parts of China. For the country’s large, and
mostly impoverished, agrarian population, traveling to Shanghai was not only a way to

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